Prague in 36 Hours, on a Budget.
How to spend a weekend in Prague on a small budget!
Travelling and being a student have become kind of synonymous with each other…that’s thanks to cheap deals and weekends off!
I usually look for quick weekend breaks, cheap flights and somewhere to stay that’s easy on the eyes and nice on the pocket…I’ll get my 5* luxury some day! With those three criteria at hand I found myself booking a trip to Prague.
Friday
We left on Friday afternoon from Glasgow to Edinburgh Airport for our late afternoon flight to Prague!
Top Tip: Flights are sometimes cheaper from neighbouring cities, even including your travel to the airport!
5 pm: We arrived safely in Prague and made our way to the hostel. We decided to stay in a hostel because everyone was telling us they are actually nicer than some hotels in Prague…and cheaper! We stayed in the Hostelworld Hostel Downtown in a nice 3 bed private room, it didn’t even feel like a hostel – apart from sharing a bathroom but this saved us some money to enjoy in Prague.
7 pm: We went into Old Town Square to see what we could get for dinner. After looking around a lot of different pubs and restaurants we couldn’t help but be drawn to the Irish Pub, Caffrey’s. Irish pubs and people are always good ‘craic’ so we just couldn’t turn it down, at least we knew what food we were going to expect!
9 pm: The craic was mighty in that Irish pub, we tried a few new drinks and some tasty Irish grub before heading back out into the Old Town Square. It was beautifully lit up and we got to see our first tourist attraction of the holiday -the Old Town Hall Tower and Astronomical clock! We didn’t get to see the ‘show’ of the procession of the twelve apostles but we’ve got it on our list for tomorrow!
11 pm: After more walking around getting to know the area and a few beers, we headed back to our hostel knowing that the next day we’d be up bright and early for a busy day of sightseeing.
Saturday
8 am: Rise and shine! We were up with the birds and ready to see the city by 8.30am.
9 am: Our first stop was going back to the Old Town Square to see the Astronomical Clock during the day. As the clock strikes the hour, every hour, the procession of the twelves apostles comes out – kind of like a coo coo clock! We gathered with a big crowd to see this happen, it was a nice cultural and free activity to see, something like I’ve never seen before.
10 am: After having a walk around Old Town Square after seeing the clock, and reminding ourselves of how it looks during the day, we made our way to the Prague Castle. It’s just a 20 minute walk across the river. There was an admission fee to get into the castle so we decided to admire it from outside and walk around the grounds of the castle.
11 am: All of us on this trip are massive music lovers, both playing and listening to music. So we wanted to go to the Czech Museum of Music. It worked out to be only about £5 each – so cheap! We saw the unique collection of instruments they hold and also heard different instruments throughout the ages, it was really interesting.
12 pm: Just a few minutes away from the Museum of Music was the Lennon Wall, a famous wall in Prague dedicated to Lennon. It was really cool to see all of the John Lennon inspired graffiti and take some perfect Instagram pics.
1 pm: Back across the river we decided to grab lunch, we wanted somewhere that was cheap and not too far away. We found a hidden gem, tucked away from the beaten track with amazing Prague food. I had smažený sýr (deep fried cheese – yummm) with chips and traditional beer.
3 pm: We made a last-minute decision, the beauty of travelling! During lunch we were planning our next move and saw some great deals for a Panoramic River Cruise, so we booked it for only £12 each. It was an hour long tour down the river, we got to see the beautiful architecture of the city from the water and go under Charles Bridge.
5 pm: After the river cruise and a busy day, we got back to the hostel in time to get freshened up and changed before our night of Prague delicacies.
6 pm: What better to do on holiday in Prague than taste some Czech beers? We found a really good deal online for a Prague Beer and Czech Tapas evening tour, it definitely looked worth our money – lots of food and drink! We met with our group in Wenceslas Square and were told the history of the area and some information about the beer we’d be having.
11 pm: We explored all over the city with our amazing tour guide and lovely tour group, we tried lots of different beers in pubs and breweries across the city. We also got to try public transport as part of the tour which was nice since we hadn’t experienced that yet. One of my favourite places we stopped was Žižkov, a nightlife area. After a lot of great beers, good Prague food and many very cheap shots the group were ready to hit the Prague nightlife. So we all headed back to Wenceslas Square and had the best night, dancing the night away.
Sunday
9 am: After a late night experiencing the culture of the city, we still had a few other things we wanted to go in Prague before our flight home. Our first plan of the day was to take a long walk down the river and go across Charles Bridge. The bridge was so beautiful, we saw the boats go underneath us and heard musicians playing and saw wonderful art being made and sold…it felt very European! I think the next time I’m in Prague I’ll make sure I can do one of those fancy boat cruises with nice food and wine…it would be beautiful.
11 am: After enjoying the views of the river and across the bridge, we strolled through the streets towards Wenceslas Square and came across a beautiful cafe called ‘Cafe Cafe’. We went in and had the best hot chocolate we’ve ever tasted, and amazing cakes – just the cure we needed.
12 pm: We got to Wenceslas Square and took a look around some of the shops, it would make such a great destination for a shopping trip. We just got a few souvenirs to bring home from the trip with us.
1 pm: After the incredible hot chocolate and cake from earlier we were looking for something light, but traditional, for lunch. We had read online about the cheap fried cheese sandwiches that vendors sell in Prague, known as a staple in the pub scene here. This is what we grabbed for lunch – along with a beer to accompany it!
3 pm: With only a few hours to go before leaving this beautiful city we wanted to squeeze in one last activity. So, we went to Josefov, a Jewish Quarter of Prague. It was definitely worth going to see for the buildings and synagogues alone.
5 pm: Unfortunately, here is where my travel story ends. It was time to leave Prague behind, weekends like this always go so fast but it’s only because so much was done.
My stomach is sore from laughing, my neck sore from looking at the beautiful city of spires and my heart is sore from leaving it behind. Who says you can’t travel and be a student?
*excluding flights and accommodation which came to under £100.
I am a massive music lover with a goal to attend every festival I can get tickets for, as well as travelling the world… but on a student budget. I love watching travel videos and seeing other people’s pics for inspiration on where I should go next – I’ll just keep saving for that round the world trip!